Walk On...
Last Friday I saw Anakin Skywalker transform into Darth Vader, closing the loop after almost 3 decades of the Star Wars experience. While I was impressed with the quality of the movie (it was good, no doubt, atleast compared to the previous two), I was more moved than anything else. Moved by the knowledge that Obi Wan and Yoda, Luke and Leia, Darths Vader and Sidious had had their swan song, their last hurrah. Some substandard movie making aside, Star Wars Episode 3 signified the end of a whole cultural experience. The circle is complete, and now it's time to walk on. But will anything light up entire generations the way Star Wars did?
For a while beginning in the mid-90s, the TV serial Friends could stake a claim on holding one generation (mine) in rapt attention. Though nowhere close to the Star Wars in reach or glamour, the six actors in Friends managed to build cult followings for themselves (my favourite being Matthew Perry). For 10 years, a lot of us looked to an apartment in the Big Apple for nourishment; humour and a healthy scepticism were truly the need of the hour as many of us sought respites from demanding work/study schedules (being in University when we saw most of Friends, repeatedly).
And then it ended. (The quality of the show had been dipping for a while, and there was talk during the last few seasons of closure) Watching the last ever episode of Friends, we felt the same sense of sadness, emptiness rather, as the curtain came down, accompanied by Bono's evergreen voice:
"You're packing a suitcase
For a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed
To be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly
Only fly for freedom
Walk on, walk on
What you've got they can't deny it
Can't sell it, or buy it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight..."
I saw tears in people's eyes that night, not so much because of the series, but because of the glut of associated memories that the ending of the show evoked. For many of us, leaving high school, entering college, finding and losing significant others, getting our first jobs (losing our first jobs, even) were all accompanied by the friendly "I'll be there for you...". That night the curtain came down on 10 years of our lives.
And last Friday? I couldnt quite comprehend 20 years of memories. Overwhelmed would be an understatement...
For a while beginning in the mid-90s, the TV serial Friends could stake a claim on holding one generation (mine) in rapt attention. Though nowhere close to the Star Wars in reach or glamour, the six actors in Friends managed to build cult followings for themselves (my favourite being Matthew Perry). For 10 years, a lot of us looked to an apartment in the Big Apple for nourishment; humour and a healthy scepticism were truly the need of the hour as many of us sought respites from demanding work/study schedules (being in University when we saw most of Friends, repeatedly).
And then it ended. (The quality of the show had been dipping for a while, and there was talk during the last few seasons of closure) Watching the last ever episode of Friends, we felt the same sense of sadness, emptiness rather, as the curtain came down, accompanied by Bono's evergreen voice:
"You're packing a suitcase
For a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed
To be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly
Only fly for freedom
Walk on, walk on
What you've got they can't deny it
Can't sell it, or buy it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight..."
I saw tears in people's eyes that night, not so much because of the series, but because of the glut of associated memories that the ending of the show evoked. For many of us, leaving high school, entering college, finding and losing significant others, getting our first jobs (losing our first jobs, even) were all accompanied by the friendly "I'll be there for you...". That night the curtain came down on 10 years of our lives.
And last Friday? I couldnt quite comprehend 20 years of memories. Overwhelmed would be an understatement...
3 Comments:
Right on, about Friends. Not to mention the number of phrases it added to pop culture's lexicon: like "Oh...My...God!" and "How YOU doing?"
I think the Star Wars of our generation has been The Matrix, for both opening up a whole new 'world' and also changing movie-making forever.
S you are right about Friends and R you are right about the Matrix. However I was never a big fan of that tube light wielding family from far far away. The "force" just wasnt strong enough for me. :)
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